Many types of optical discs include a data area and a label area. The data area is where the data is written to, whereas the label area allows the user to label the optical disc. A laser or another type of optical beam can be used to read from and/or write to the data area and the label area of an optical disc. For example, in the patent application entitled “Integrated CD/DVD Recording and Label”, filed on Oct. 11, 2001, and assigned Ser. No. 09/976,877, a type of optical disc is disclosed in which a laser or other optical beam can be used to write to the label area of an optical disc.
Conventionally, a user inserts an optical disc into an optical disc drive so that the data area of the optical disc is incident to the optical beam, for optical writing of data to the data side of the optical disc. Thereafter, the user may remove the optical disc from the optical disc drive, flip it over, and reinsert the optical disc into the drive so that the label area of the optical disc is incident to the optical beam, for optical writing of human-readable markings to the label side of the optical disc. However, this process of inserting an optical disc into the optical disc drive, writing data to the disc, removing the disc, flipping the disc over, reinserting the optical disc into the drive, and labeling the disc can be inconvenient.